It is said that prevention is better than cure but sometimes accidents are unavoidable. So one should be prepared to deal with unavoidable accidents and this is possible only if one has knowledge about dealing with such situations. Most of the times when there injury to mouth, jaw or face there are chances of having broken tooth. By knowledge one can save a tooth which can otherwise be lost. However there are certain tips or precautions which can be followed to protect oneself from the dental accidents. These are

1. Sports person should wear a mouth guard while playing active sports to protect himself from the injury to face, jaw or tooth.

2. One should be careful not to crack nuts or open bottles with their teeth or chew ice as these can cause the cracked tooth syndrome.

3. The scissors should always used to cut the tape or thread instead of doing this with teeth.

How to handle Dental Emergencies?

Dental Pain

If one is in acute dental pain the first thing is to try to contact the dentist and if he is not available then one can take OTC pain killer or apply clove oil or put a clove in that area. Do not try to use the heating pad or for that matter any source of heat because this can deteriorate the condition. If the tooth is not sensitive to cold then one can put ice pack or the cold water in the affected area.

Tooth Fracture

If accidently one gets tooth fractured then try to find the fragment of the tooth which is broken because sometimes tooth can be restored by using that fragment. Call your dentist as soon as possible and if the dentist is not able to reattach the fractured segment then he will built the broken part of the tooth using composite tooth colored filling immediately which can save the tooth from getting infected. If the tooth is already infected then the dentist can do the Root Canal Treatment and can put a Crown on it.

Adult Tooth Knockout

If accidently one has got his adult tooth knocked out, then it is an emergency. If the tooth is found and is clean then it can be put back in the socket and if it can not be put back in the socket then save is in the cold milk and go to the dentist immediately because in this case time is the key for the success of tooth to be replanted. If it can be put back within 10-30 minutes by the dentist then chances of tooth surviving are more than 90%.

Baby Tooth Knockout

If the knocked out tooth is a baby tooth then do not try to put is back in the socket as this can have adverse effect on the permanent tooth bud. Baby teeth are not reimplanted but still you have to visit the dentist who will decide after taking the X-ray or seeing the tooth, will decide whether further treatment is required which can be like maintaining the space by giving space maintainer.

Tongue or Lip Bite

If one accidently bites the tongue or lip then clean the area gently and if is bleeding then put pressure with a sterile gauge piece. If the lip is swollen the ice can be applied for the swelling to subside. In any case one should visit his/her dentist even if the bleeding has stopped so that secondary infection does not take place.

Dental emergencies arise most in the case of children as they are involved in outdoor activities like Skating, Cycling, Sports etc. Parent should take every precaution to minimize chances of accident but if the accident happen then keyword is they should stay clam because if they become nervous then the child will be frightened and managing the child becomes difficult.